Dell Dimension 8400, should I BUY or NOT?

[mparr1708]

I think I'll chime in here. I work in an all dell shop and have worked on most every type of system they build. While I like to build my own systems (it?s my hobby and what I like to do) DELLs build quality is almost always top notch.

Also, dell does not actually build there parts (a lot of it is made by foxcon). I wouldn?t say they use "Teh Uber" parts but what they do use is the most stable parts they can find. If your invoice says you have a XT850PE in your box then you do and it will be fully functional at ATIs recommended speeds. You just won?t find an out of spec part (exp BFGs cards that are oced out of the box). Like someone else mentioned you must factor in support and software as well.

I would recommend DELL to anyone who does not want to build there own system. This is especially true if you don?t like to game. I is very hard to beat there prices on systems for email and such.

If you want to game and feel comfortable building your own system then I feel it is the way to go. Especially since DELL does not offer athlon 64 based systems.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[dullard]

You didn't list everything (like optical drive) so it makes the comparison difficult to make. I do have a few comments:

1) The best Dell deals are here. I just configured exactly what you had listed (assuming the cheapest parts for thing that you left off your list) and got a price of $1439 shipped.

2) 40 GB hard drive is plenty for the vast majority of people who only use 10 GB. However, you seem to be wanting to do some things that will require more disk space so I personally would recommend increasing that to 80 GB for ~$20.

3) The Dimension 8400 is often overkill. Most people can get the exact same performance from the Dimension 4700 line and save a couple hundred dollars in the process. However, there may be a minor detail that you really need in the 8400. Just look carefully.

4) If you only do light gaming do you really need a $500+ video card? Look carefully at benchmarks, you might find a cheaper video card to be acceptable for light gaming. That would save you ~$300.

5) Lots of people here hate Dell with a passion for one reason: they don't sell AMD chips. This bias against Dell can be blatant, or hidden (such as with recommendations to build your own). Often, you won't get good advice due to this. Things like the proprietary power supplies were necessary in the P3 days (and most OEMS had proprietary power supplies to eliminate stability problems). But in the last 4 years this has ended. Pretty much the only thing proprietary anymore is the case/motherboard. 99.9% of people don't upgrade those, so unless you are in that 0.1% group, don't worry about it. On the flip side, you have people here that are also too pro-Dell. Dell isn't perfect and doesn't meet everyone's needs.

 

[rikadik]

Good to see so many people standing behind Dells and their excellent computers!

Is it no longer 'hip' to hate Dells incessantly?

 

[smithdj]

Originally posted by: rikadik
Good to see so many people standing behind Dells and their excellent computers!

Is it no longer 'hip' to hate Dells incessantly?

Exactly!! Just like Raptor drives, for awhile you were such a fool for not buying one, now the cool thing is to bash it and then say that they are really not that much faster.

 

[jpeyton]

If you were paying closer to ~$1200, that would be a decent deal (figuring the X850 is worth about ~$500, the monitor about ~$200, so leaves about $500 for the actual 8400). Almost $1600 is too much.

 

[ribbon13]

Anyone who makes all encompassing statements about how the Raptor is a waste of money is a fool. It's an expensive toy to the desktop user, but it's indispensable in low end servers because it is so much faster (IOps wise). It's also a hell of a lot more useful to a desktop user than a high-end video card would be!

Edit: For the fellow fool below ^^

 

[RaiderJ]

That's a good price if you'd like to have your computer pre-built and have a warranty. As said before, a 4700 can be configured for similiar performance for less, so take into account how much upgrading down the road you plan on doing.

 

[kini62]

Originally posted by: NightCrawler

Originally posted by: kini62
NO complaints with my XPS. I paid $2300 without monitor and with 1GB of ram. Got the 2nd gig for $100 also from Dell. The system is very quiet and so far reliable. With the XPS if you need tech support you get access to a "level 2" tech- who presumably speaks English as a first language.

And now to start the flames- I previously had a custom built 3500+ on an Asus A8N SLI Deluxe MB with an eVGA6800GT. I was disappointed in the performance. So much so I sent it back. Even overclocked to nearly 2.5Ghz it was slower using the apps I use most and in the games I am currently playing. Even with the 6800GT overclocked to Ultra levels and the CPU at nearly 2.5Ghz it was slower in Far Cry and HL2. Plus when doing CPU intensive tasks, ie video encoding/rendering the system was essentially non responsive to user input. In other words the GUI was non responsive, mouse would lag or not move. Programs would not open or take forever. Couldn't even browse the internet.

More BS about multitasking is better with the P4 even though Intel says Hyperthreading only adds 15% to 30%.

What BS? It's not BS by any means. It's just the way it is. Other's on these forums have said the same things. With CPU intensive apps/processes the P4 HT makes a big difference in usability. And the Athlon 64 is not faster at everything.

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: homercles337

Originally posted by: Melchior

The X850XT PE = 500 bucks
LCD monitor = 200 bucks
Gig of Ram = No idea around 150?

Hardly, Dell builds thier own "dell branded" hardware. I would guess the "dell branded" x850xt is worth $300 and probably performs like a x800 XL. LCD, meh, cant really gauge. Gig of "dell branded" ram < $100 and probably has timings that Corsair value ram would pummel. Dude, if you can build your own--stay away from Dell. Dell products are for grannies and noobs. :thumbsdown: This comes from a guy who has actually owned TWO dells!

Bolded for emphasis... that is the funniest and stupidest comment I've seen in awhile.

Dell doesn't make anything, almost everything they have is 3rd party. The X850XT is the same as a retail box'ed ATI, the memory is probably Crucial, and the LCD is probably a rebadged Samsung. Now if you think an ATI X850XT (at this time) is for grannies, then you need a serious reality check.

 

[ribbon13]

Originally posted by: kini62
What BS? It's not BS by any means. It's just the way it is. Other's on these forums have said the same things. With CPU intensive apps/processes the P4 HT makes a big difference in usability. And the Athlon 64 is not faster at everything.

I tend to agree with this. However, Toledo A64s will annihilate every P4 out, and will change everything. Its more worthy in the long run for every reason to go with 939 A64 right now.

 

[smithdj]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
Anyone who makes broad statements about the Raptor is a fool. It's an expensive toy to the desktop user, but it's indispensable in low end servers because it is so much faster (IOps wise). It's also a hell of a lot more useful to a desktop user than a high-end video card would be!

I guess I made a broadstatement, I am a fool. I believe your last statement is a broad also. Hello, fellow fool.

 

[khicon]

Thanks for everybody inputs. First of all, I don't need a big HD for the OS. 40GB is enuff. I will partition it in two. 10GB for the OS the other 30GB for DATA. Plus I have about 4 xtra HD that' I'm planing to use with it. The less stuff I've install in the OS the faster it will run.

I do have experience about windows but I'm a novice when it comes to hardware wise. Everybody inputs was awsome. People have diff thoughts and things about each stuff. That what makes this a wonderful thing. I learn from other opinons and vice versa.

As for the system, I want to be able to do multitasking. Like playing HL:2 or SC while burning DVDs or while encoding. I do encoding more often then I game.
I also watch a lot of movies (Files: avi, divx & DVDs) A LOT (Isn't high end card work better with movies then middle end card? I'm not familar with that but I've always thought that.)

I also like to build computer but this will be my first time if I'm going that route and I'm not quite sure on how to do it. Although, I have taken computer parts apart and put them back together.

 

[ribbon13]

The GPU segment makes no differnce whatsoever for movies. an old Radeon 7500 displays movies just as good as an X850 XT PE.

Encoding and playing a high-end game will choke any AMD or Intel desktop. You really need a dually to do that. An encoder might not care about sharing the CPU, but a game will lag horribly!

 

[khicon]

Thanks ribbon13 for clearing that out for me (about high end card watching movies). I do have an ATI AIW 9600XT. How does the 9600xt compare to the Dim8400 vid card (ATI Radeon? X300 SE)? Encoding while playing DVDs or Movies(files) which is better AMD or INTEL? Once again, I love multitasking, cause I do a lot of stuff at once.

 

[kini62]

Originally posted by: khicon
Thanks ribbon13 for clearing that out for me (about high end card watching movies). I do have an ATI AIW 9600XT. How does the 9600xt compare to the Dim8400 vid card (ATI Radeon? X300 SE)? Encoding while playing DVDs or Movies(files) which is better AMD or INTEL? Once again, I love multitasking, cause I do a lot of stuff at once.

In which case you should splurge for a dual processor machine now, or wait for a dual core system in the future. As Ribbon said, trying to encode video and playing a 3d game will choke any single CPU system. Encoding/rendering video will take almost 100% of your CPU cycles is you let it. Unless you want it to encode really slow, your better off not doing anything else that is CPU intensive, email, internet, office apps, listening to music are all OK. I would think that watching a DVD would be OK as well, I guess I'll have to give that a try.

 

[khicon]

Hi Kini62, that's what exactly I will be most likely to do. Encoding while surfing, emailing, listening to music or Watching DVDs. By the way ur XPS Gen 4 rig look awsome.

 

[ribbon13]

9600XT can use ATi's HDTV dongle to output to an HDTV, in case you didn't know ^^

At the moment, Intel, and that's very slight... I would say go with AMD because of this. See 'Toledo?' Get an Intel and you'll regret it when those chips hit the street. With a dual-cpu system you'll be able to encode and play games simultaneously with no lag.

The X300 SE would be worse I think.. at that low end of a card it would be hard to compare... AGP vs PCIe too. It'ss not like a nicer card is that much ->$125 X600 XT VIVO

 

[khicon]

9600XT can use ATi's HDTV dongle to output to an HDTV, in case you didn't know ^^

Can you please go into that in more details?

 

[rikadik]

Can you get the GeForce 6800 GTo on that system? It'll knock a chunk off the price, and for "light gamers" like me and you is ideal. PLUS, it has onboard hardware MPEG encoding, making it more useful than most GPUs for any encoding work you do.

In case you didn't know the 6800 GTo is basically a 6800 GT with some pipelines disabled by the nutters at Dell. It is still waaay better than a standard 6800 and can easily handle games like HL:2 and Doom 3 with impressive graphics (full detail/draw distance etc but 1280x1024 and modest AA and AF).

 

[ribbon13]

ATI's component video adapter
Generic ^^

but you'd need a VGA? Your card doessn't have DVI does it?
thiss one instead

 

[khicon]

Originally posted by: rikadik
Can you get the GeForce 6800 GTo on that system? It'll knock a chunk off the price, and for "light gamers" like me and you is ideal. PLUS, it has onboard hardware MPEG encoding, making it more useful than most GPUs for any encoding work you do.

In case you didn't know the 6800 GTo is basically a 6800 GT with some pipelines disabled by the nutters at Dell. It is still waaay better than a standard 6800 and can easily handle games like HL:2 and Doom 3 with impressive graphics (full detail/draw distance etc but 1280x1024 and modest AA and AF).

Hi rikadik,

Yes, on the DIM8400 you can choose the 6800GTO.

And Thanks Ribbon13 for the ATI component info.

 

[crimson117]

Originally posted by: khicon
===================================================================
Pentium® 4 Processor 640 with HT Technology (3.20GHz, 800 FSB)
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz (2x512M)
E173FP Flat Panel Display
256MB PCI Express? x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon? X850 XT PE
40GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Integrated Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE 1394 Adapter
Dell Quietkey® Keyboard
Dell 2-button scroll mouse
TOTAL = $1,585.80
===================================================================

with that kind of money (aprox. $1600) can I build a better system? or should I go with the Dimension 8400 from dell?

Also, can someone give me more details about the motherboard specs on the 8400? Aslo, who have purchase this Dim8400, can you tell me your experience on it (good or bad). Thank you.

Is this box good for multitasking? I do a lot of burning, encoding,listening mp3s, watching movies (files & DVDs) and light gaming (HL:2 & SC) as well.

Other people have mentioned good reasons why not to get the Dell in your situation, but the one thing I'll add on Dell's behalf is that their systems are very well-engineered, and very quiet.

Still, if you're going to use those parts you already have, then you may as well build your own. If you're careful and don't skimp on parts (treat yourself to a nice quiet case, fans, case with a good cabling solution), then you'll build a rig that's as well designed as a Dell, and with better parts.

 

[kini62]

Originally posted by: khicon
Hi Kini62, that's what exactly I will be most likely to do. Encoding while surfing, emailing, listening to music or Watching DVDs. By the way ur XPS Gen 4 rig look awsome.

In that case the P4 will work just fine. I have no problems doing that (like I said, I haven't tried the DVD playing but it should work).

Not including the monitor and with 1GB of ram I paid $2300. I think I got a good deal. I got the 2nd gig of ram for $100 with a $100 coupon for Dell. Their ram upgrades are a little over priced as are most OEMs, but $100 for a gig of DDR2 ram is pretty cheap. I added a 4 year warrant for $130 after rebate.

I'm totally happy with my Dell. It's quiet and fast. Lots of storage. Others will and have pointed out to you that you "could" save money by building your own. I thought of that too, but by the time I priced out parts (kind of high end like a $200 Lian Li case etc...) it was only about $100-$200 less than the Dell. It just wasn't worth it to me.

I also considered the upgrade path to dual core AMDs. That still makes me sort of wish I had kept the 3500+ system I had, but I'm not one to do a lot of upgrading.

I'll just wait for the dual dual core HT P4s in a couple of years. By then I'll probably be editing HD video and making 50gig DVDs with my Blu Ray DVD dual layer burner

The technology train never stops, at some point you just have to jump on and ride as long as you can.

 

[khicon]

Kini62, very well said. I was thinking of the same thing. I guess you and me think alike. Some of the members in other forum said that I should wait for a few weeks for the Dell coupons and maybe a price drop on the Dim8400.

I also like Rippon13 route(build ur own) as well .. It is a very hard choice indeed. Once again, thanks everyone for their inputs. But please don't stop here.. if you have more comments please go on. I would love to read it.

EDIT: To those who own DIM8400:

How many 5.25 Bay does the DIM8400 has? Also how many HD can it fit in? PCI Slot?

Thanks

 

[rikadik]

It has two 5.25" bays and two 3.5" bays for your external drives.

If I remember correctly, it has two 3.5" SATA HDD bays inside. However in total it has 4 SATA connectors and 1 IDE I think.

It has three PCI slots, one PCIe (x16) and one PCIe (x1). Also remember to find out if the GPU you choose is double-size - if it is you lose access to one of the PCI slots.

Hope this helps